Friday, July 27, 2012

A Thank You To All Women Makers & Engineers

A few weeks ago I shared a story with someone about how my girls got started in building projects & electronics. It wasn't until later on that I realized that I had never shared it with the rest of the world as it is a story that needs to be shared.

The photos above have made their way across the internet onto many different sites & blogs. While many people have said thank you to me for sharing what my kids are doing along with a compliments of what a great job I am doing by teaching them, this praise does not belong to me but belongs to the women of the "Do It Yourself" revolution from both the present and the past.

While in Radio Shack one day browsing the DIY project clearance rack I had asked my oldest daughter if she wanted to build her own AM/FM radio. Her response was less then thrilling to me as she told me "Girls don't do that sort of thing ... Dad". Shocked because I've always tried to bestow upon my girls that anyone can do what they want no matter of race or gender I saw it was time to set the record straight.

As soon as we got home I went to work on showing both my oldest girls some great examples of women currently building things in both hardware & software. Showing them the not only the Adafruit website but also work done by Becky Stern , Jeri Ellsworth along with the countless times we've seen awesome builds by women on Hack A Day they finally realized gender is blind when it comes to building their dreams & ideas.

While the positive feedback from others has been great with people telling me how cool it is that I am teaching my girls these things, lets not forget to thank those who made the kids interest in electronics & building possible. Without the hard work, talent, & drive to both educate and share how they did things with the rest of the world my girls would never of had the role models that they have found in the work & talents of all of the women working on things from Arduino to Software. Now when out & about in town or at Radio Shack the girls pick out what they want to build and have found interest in asking how does that work and how can we build or own version.

So in the end please give a big thank you to all the women engineers & crafters out there showing the world that no matter race, religion, gender, or sexual orientation anyone can build their dreams & be a positive role model in the lives of people they've never even meet. Thank You Again for all that you do